It took 15 years for hundreds of volunteers, state and federal partners, trail maintenance clubs and young workers with the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps to build the original path. In the decades since, nearly 99 percent has been relocated or rebuilt, and transferred from private to public ownership.

The Appalachian Trail was completed as a continuous footpath on August 14th, 1937. More than 550 miles of the trail are found in Virginia.